I have just spent about a month trying out Salix. It is very good, although I don't care for Midori browser, or the ESR version of Firefox. Other than that it is very responsive and seems well thought out. I am not sure if the developers here ever check out other distros, but this is one to look at - just my opinion. For me, Vector is still the best.

Like most people I look at other distros, I am always curious what they have to offer but my home is Vector, just frustrated that it and other Slackware derivatives don't seem to be able to cope with my otherwise Linux friendly printer (Epson XP 202)

After installing BO 44 64 bit, I ran gslapt to look for updates. After I did this, the laptop would boot up, but it froze at the log in screen. I'm not sure why.

No no no no no no no. Never do that. Especially with the beta's. 7.1 is in such a state of flux, something added two beta versions ago could easily break the latest. Only update IF you know it's absolutely, positively needed. And then, only update the individual program you know that needs to be updated.